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Michael Acosta Selected as Fulbright-Clinton Fellow in Kosovo

Michael Acosta was chosen for a Fulbright-Clinton Fellowship in Spring 2017. He outlines his hopes for what he will do during the fellowship below.

As a Fulbright-Clinton Fellow, in Kosovo, I will be working as a special assistant to an official at the Ministry of Education, Science in Technology (MEST). The specifics of my work will be negotiated between the American Embassy in Pristina (the capital of Kosovo) and MEST.

As a special assistant, I will work 35 hours per week with MEST officials while conducting research. My proposed research will be somewhat similar to my earlier research in Jordan. I will conduct site visits to schools to look at the integration of minorities in Kosovar public schools.

Several minority groups have high dropout rates. Ethnic Serbs, Roma, Kosovar-Egyptians, and Ashkali are some of the groups that the MEST strategic plan seeks to integrate better into Kosovar public schools. In addition, because of the conflict in the 1990s, many Kosovars who were forced out are returning, but the government is facing barriers to their integration in public schools. My proposed research will try to look into these current issues in Kosovo. [4-17]